The Weekender Sign up

We'll help you plan your best summer yet with our annual roundup of can't miss events! Plus we've got a Face the Music interview with vocal powerhouse Josh Groban who is performing in Portland on 6/24. And as always, we'll help you have a terrific weekend with our hand-picked selection of events. Have fun out there!

About The Author

Jamie Thompson

Jamie Thompson works in Portland as a web editor and is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared online and in regional print publications. She's written about art, fashion, travel, and interior design. A former art gallery intern, archival collections assistant, and magazine editor, Jamie's professional aspirations have always revolved around her passion for art and the written word. She has a true appreciation for creativity, and even wields a brush herself once and a while. Jamie loves to explore her home state, read, listen to music, and bake far too many cupcakes.

March First Friday preview

This month’s First Friday Art Walk in Portland features a knockout exhibition of collage work by 10 Maine artists. “Collage x 10” is a celebration of the medium through the eyes of our state’s most masterful artists.

David Driskell, Noriko Sakanishi, Stew Henderson, Charlie Hewitt, Daniel Anselmi, Dan Mills, Abbie Read, Shannon Rankin, Gabriella d’Italia, and Karen MacDonald share their takes on collage. Not only are all these artists supremely talented, they also have very different styles. From bold and colorful to subdued and monochromatic, expressive to contemplative, there will be great variety in this show.

The opening reception will be held from 5-7 PM at Portland Public Library’s Lewis Gallery. Sponsored by Rockland’s Center for Maine Contemporary Art, “Collage x 10” was co-curated by Suzette McAvoy, CMCA executive director, and Bruce Brown, CMCA curator emeritus.

While at the library for “Collage x 10,” be sure to stick around for the Portland Ballet’s performance in the library’s atrium. At 6:30 PM, head out to Monument Square to view the performance, a selection from the classical ballet “La Bayadere” from the PBC’s upcoming March show “Bolero to Bayadere.” They will also perform a few pieces from “Boy Meets Girl,” a show inspired by the Great American Songbook.

Even though it will likely be freezing outside, watching ballet dancers perform in atmospherically lit windows at night will be a romantic experience. The ballet’s appearance at First Friday demonstrates something that I’ve always appreciated: art doesn’t have to be static. It’s movement, energy, poetry, anything that typifies human creativity.